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It is very important for Congress to approve the Iran-Nuclear deal created by an international coalition of major countries. An article in the Boston Globe (August 6, 2015) authored by U.S. Senator George Mitchell is an excellent discussion of all the factors that are involved. You can find the article by doing an internet search on: George Mitchell on Iran Agreement, Boston Globe.

The following is a summary of my views on this issue and some of Senator Mitchell’s main points in the Boston Globe.

1. The United States, China, Russia, Britain, France, Germany formed a coalition to establish this agreement. It is approved by the United Nations Security Council, and although some Israel leaders disapprove, many others in Israel do approve.

2. If this deal is not approved, and Iran moves towards a nuclear weapon, to get international support for military action or further sanctions would be difficult. If approved, and Iran violates the agreement, we would have good international support for any necessary actions. Trying to create sanctions or military actions by the U.S. alone would be hopeless.

3. The deal does have numerous provisions providing for inspection of facilities.

4. The deal has corrective provisions that would greatly slow any move towards the making of nuclear weapons.

5. Some money belonging to Iran has been frozen as a part of the sanctions. This money would be returned to them as a part of the deal. Iran is in serious financial trouble so we would anticipate that most if not all of this money would go towards domestic projects. If we speculate that the money would be used to promote terrorism, we could also speculate that the enmity created by not following through on this international deal would lead other hostile sources to contribute more.

6. Of course the deal is not perfect, but after many years in the making, it is the best we can currently do. It is certainly better than no deal, because it has world-wide acceptance, and we cannot act effectively, alone.

7. Failure to follow through on a deal like this would dishonor the U.S. and make us appear untrustworthy.

8. Israel has been assured that if the deal is approved and then violated, the U.S. would provide necessary military support or other relevant action. No matter what, the danger is always there, but this at least gives us some hope for a peaceful solution.